Tropical Storm Isaias sped through the Caribbean on Thursday, drenching Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti on a projected path that could track just off the coasts of Southeastern and mid-Atlantic states from Florida through Virginia in the coming days.
Isaias on Thursday afternoon was crossing the island of Hispaniola, home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, with 60 mph winds, but forecasters were not as certain where the storm would go from there. It earlier flooded Puerto Rico with torrential rainfall, high winds and frequent lightning strikes. Trees and power lines were felled and some areas experienced mudslides.
An 11 a.m. update on Thursday showed winds from the storm will reach South Carolina by 8 a.m. Sunday. The center of the storm will be near the coast around 8 a.m. Monday, according to current predictions. But the system could stay entirely offshore, lessening its impact.
Though it's possible the storm would remain entirely offshore as it crosses South Carolina, Charleston city officials met for an hour to map out a strategy.
Emergency Management Director Shannon Scaff said staff talked through potential timelines for the storm and ensuring there's enough supplies available for city residents.
"We're really uneasy this year because of COVID so we want everything to be as wire-tight as we can get it," Scaff said.
Right now the city has enough for 75,000 sandbags and 90,000 personal protective equipment masks for city staff.
"There's a lot of uncertainty right now about what this will do," Scaff said. "We're using this as an opportunity to triple check all our processes."
Scaff said he'll monitor National Weather Service updates through Friday and expects city staff to work through the weekend.
The city was not planning to board up windows and did not encourage local businesses to do that yet either.
Charleston County Emergency Management officials also were assessing the situation on Thursday.
“There is a lot uncertainty with the track of this storm, but the time to prepare is now as we could see impacts from Tropical Storm Isaias as early as this weekend,” Emergency Management Director Jason Patno said in a news release.
National Hurricane Center forecasters said there's a risk of winds, heavy rainfall and storm surge along portions of the East Coast, starting in Florida this weekend and spreading north by early next week. It's too soon to determine the magnitude and location of those impacts until the track and intensity forecasts solidify, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Predictions are expected to change frequently in the coming days and it's still unclear what threats the storm poses to South Carolina.
"There's still a tremendous amount of uncertainty," said Michael Emlaw, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston.
The effects on the coast could be just a little bit of wind and not much rain, or we could see tropical storm winds and flooding, he said. It's too early to tell.
"It's really a challenging forecast," Emlaw said. They're looking to see how the storm track changes over the next few days.
If multiple updates show the storm tracking far offshore, then conditions will be fairly safe, he said. Now, it's just a matter of watching and waiting.
July 30, 2020 at 11:12PM
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Tropical Storm Isaias could skirt SC with light winds early Sunday, forecasts show - Charleston Post Courier
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